Chapter Twenty-Five: Lijian Villa

  "Hmm, hmm, I told you that Qingyun is usually well-liked by people. Old man, you still don't believe me? Look at this basket of things! And there's also a box of earth eggs." Yunsu E also gathered beside the luggage.

  Zhang Qingyun and Geng Shuang exchanged a glance, smiled at each other, their parents were always simple-minded, they would never be involved in officialdom, if he hadn't entered the county committee, where would all these gifts come from.

  "Alright, alright, your son is popular enough without you bragging about it. Why don't you go upstairs and cook something for me first? I'm starving!" Zhang Qingyun said with a smile.

  Yin Su'e gave Zhang Qingyun a white eye, hummed, and actually pulled Geng Shuang up the stairs together.

  "Ah, Qingyun, I see that the girl from the Geng family is not ordinary! I don't care how you two met, but you must treat her well from now on. These past two days, your mom and I have been worried sick, afraid that she would look down on our humble circumstances. Now that you've been transferred to the city, my heart feels a bit more at ease."

  Zhang Qingyun secretly smiled to himself, and he couldn't bear to dampen his old man's enthusiasm, so he vaguely responded with a few sounds. The old man didn't say anything else, which also made Zhang Qingyun let out a sigh of relief.

  The two of them were busy for almost an hour before they finished, and when Zhang Qingyun arrived in the living room, Geng Shuang and Yin Su'e had already laid out a table of good dishes.

  "Qingyun, wash your hands and help me get the bowls and chopsticks. It's time to eat. Try some of my braised pork and see how it tastes?" Geng Shuang said with a smile.

  Zhang Qingyun was taken aback. Geng Shuang, this woman, really is a bit too familiar. She even called out to Qingyun, you don't need to be so enthusiastic when calling someone by their name, do you?

  "What are you still dazing about? Ah-feng told you to wash your hands and serve the rice, and also, bring wine for your father." Yoon Soo-eon scolded, seeing Jang Cheol-woon in a trance.

  "Oh, I see! Right away!" Zhang Qingyun said hastily, still half asleep. Geng Shuang stuck out his tongue and smiled smugly.

  The dinner was sumptuous, Zhang Qingyun ate his fill, and the old couple Zhang Deyan were even more delighted, constantly serving Geng Shuang dishes. The four people in the house really had a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

  After dinner, Geng Shuang appeared to be very virtuous, helping to clean up the bowls and chopsticks, sweeping the floor, and busy with joy. Zhang Qingyun carefully observed from the side, looking at this woman who didn't seem to be pretending, familiar with the routine, and unexpectedly found that this woman was a standard lady who could enter the hall and go down to the kitchen, maybe she and he really had some play?

  After dinner, everyone sat together and chatted for a while until after nine o'clock. Geng Shuang finally proposed to take her leave. Since Geng Shuang had come to Zhang Qingyun's home only a few times, the old couple hadn't figured out her progress with Zhang Qingyun either, so they didn't dare ask her to stay and just asked Zhang Qingyun to see her off.

  "Your home feels pretty good! You're really happy!" The two walked downstairs, and Geng Shuang smiled and said.

  Zhang Qingyun nodded and chuckled a few times, Geng Shuang's words had hit the nail on the head, he was most satisfied with this point after crossing over.

  "Remember to come to Wude City to find me, or you'll regret it!" Geng Shuang said with a smile.

  Zhang Qingyun glanced at her, just about to speak, when Geng Shuang waved his hand and started the car. With a rev of the engine, the car sped away like lightning. Zhang Qingyun shook his head, thinking to himself: "This woman is not simple! She's got a story!"

  As the Spring Festival approaches, the festive atmosphere in the small town of Yongping County is becoming increasingly strong. Although Zhang Qingyun's family is not large, this year's New Year's goods for Zhang Deyan and his wife are exceptionally abundant.

  As Yin Su-e said, this year the old Zhang family has a double happiness, one is that Zhang Qingyun finally moved into the city, and the other is that the daughter-in-law's affair, which had been worrying the old couple for a long time, also has a promising prospect. These two happy events have come together, so it's not possible to hold a grand celebration.

  The old couple was busy inside and outside, while Zhang Qingyun stayed at home all day, researching his work. Before the holiday, he specially collected a large amount of data, including the names, resumes, and backgrounds of deputy department-level cadres in the county. He tried to memorize who was whose person, who relied on what to get promoted, and required himself to be able to recall them at will.

  Apart from studying people, he also studied things. Currently, the political circle of Yongping is mainly divided into two factions: Huang Songshan and Wu Dezhong. The sky of Yongping basically belongs to them. Zhang Qingyun was clear in his mind that to break this situation, it would be impossible to rely solely on brute force, but rather he needed to borrow power and strike with precision, win over and divide the opposition. However, as for how to specifically operate, no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't come up with a concrete plan, and was feeling quite depressed at the moment.

  After the Spring Festival, it's time for New Year's visits. Old Zhang's family doesn't have many relatives, and Zhang Qingyun made a few perfunctory visits to complete his task. He also has very few friends, only one named Chen Mai, who is with the traffic police team and was extremely busy during the Spring Festival period, without any time for socializing. Zhang Qingyun was happy to have some peace and quiet, spending every day at home studying his work.

  The working hours of the county committee's compound is on the eighth day, Zhang Qingyun packed his gifts on the sixth day and rushed to Wude City, Li Gang was his direct superior, this year he had to pay a visit.

  Fortunately, the gift was ready in time. The wild game sent by Wang Guo Book from Lizi Ping happened to be useful, otherwise, with Zhang Qingyun's current family situation, it would be really hard to come up with a decent gift.

  Lijiang's home was located in the suburbs of Wude City, at the foot of Yuquan Mountain. This area is generally where municipal leaders live. Zhang Qingyun took a taxi from Wude City and saw all sorts of cars with government and public security bureau plaques along the way.

  Lijiang's home was a three-story small villa, decorated in an old-fashioned style, but with careful attention to materials. At first glance, it didn't seem impressive, but upon closer inspection, it had a unique charm.

  Li Gang's family had no guests today, just the five of them. Through Li Gang's introduction, Zhang Qingyun came to know that his parents and wife were all professors at Wuhan Physical Education University, and his father was even the secretary of Wuhan Physical Education University, a high-ranking official at the level of deputy director-general.

  "Xiao Zhang, you didn't have to come all the way here specially. Anyway, I'll be back in Yongping in a couple of days." Lijiang said after they met.

  "What can I say? County Magistrate Li, other places may not be worth visiting, but your place is a must-visit. This time I came and gained a lot. Uncles and aunts like you who are high-level intellectuals are rare in our martial arts world!"

  "Haha, young man is quite impressive! Your county magistrate has mentioned you in front of me before. Today, I finally got to see the first young cadre promoted by him in Yongping with my own eyes. By the way, which school did you graduate from?" Lijiang's father said with a hearty smile.

  "Yan City Normal University." Zhang Qingyun replied respectfully.

  "Great, great, I didn't expect you to also attend a normal university. You must make our normal university colleges proud! Who says that normal university students can only teach? We can handle any job in various industries!" Father Li said excitedly.

  Zhang Qingyun could tell in an instant that Lijiang's father was also a government official, this kind of skill to make people feel close with just a few words, only those who have been through the government circles possess.